Hi all. So here I am on the other side of surgery.
It all went ok - the insertion of the guide wire didn’t go quite to plan as they couldn’t see the marker on the ultrasound so had to be guided by mammogram instead. I had a bit of an emotional meltdown at that point as the anxiety was a bit much and squishing my boob for 20 mins felt like adding insult to injury but the radiologist team were absolutely lovely, so kind and gentle and looked after me so well that I felt much better.
Was back home after surgery by about 8pm and so relieved that step is now done. I feel very tender today and have developed a bit of a protective T Rex arm position which I have to remind myself not to do, but I’m doing my exercises and trying to use the arm as much as possible.
I had the OSNA check on my lymph nodes during surgery which came back clear but my surgeon said nothing can be 100% guaranteed until the pathology results are back. So it’s a waiting game now. But I’m trying to focus on recuperation for now and like Avibaby’s idea of ‘deleting’ worry.
Am finding my blue dye smurf boob amusing and the blue pee. It looks like you’re weeing out pure disinfectant ??
Hope your recovery is still going well Avibaby. Who knows maybe a 5K walk/run is a target we should all aspire to?
K x
Wanted to let you all know that I’m doing pretty well - just started my 2nd week at home and things are healing up. I still have times when I land in the “cancer brain funk”, but getting out of the house and doing my usual stuff pulls me out of it. Especially if I do outdoor excercise - so at dinnertime we all went out for a walk on the beach which did wonders for all of us.
Our September family vacation is lost, but the silver lining on that is that it is so much fun making plans for a bigger and better one in March 2019!
My next upcoming appointment will be stressful - I will find out if I need radiation alone or radiation with chemotherapy. But I have come up with a set of plans for both outcomes, so I feel much better than last week.
Quaggie - I know you are on your 3rd day of recovery - Is your brother still there?
Christina - today is August 6th and in 48 hours you will be on plan for surgery and hopefully a treatment plan. So I’ll bet you’re feeling pretty good!
avibaby
Hello all,
Sorry I have been a bit quiet over here in the last few days. I don’t have much spare time after my work, appointments (or chasing them) and children, in whichever order.
Avibaby - It’s so great you are feeling upbeat and full of beans already. Thank you for cheering everybody else here and thank you so much for thinking of me and my surgery date. Unfortunately I am still waiting. They changed the treatment plan date to Aug. 8th to Aug. 1st. Good news was that the two further biopsies came back clear, they were fibroadenomas ( I still have the initial malignant lump). BUT, they now see an area behind my nipple that looks reactive on the MRI image so they need to do further investigations in order to determine which type of surgery I am having. I need to have an MRI-guided biopsy at a different hospital. After an anxious wait, I got a letter for an appointment for Aug 11th. But then, I got a call from my breast surgeon today to tell me that the MRI-guided biopsy team said that they could not work with the original MRI image as it was not clear enough. So, I need to have another normal MRI first, which has been booked for this Thursday. I am so exhausted with the wait and change of plans. I understand this is all in my best interest but I really need some progress now.
I need to go to bed soon as I have to get up very early tomorrow for work. Apologies if I have missed a direct comment from somebody. I am just writing quickly to update you on my news.
All the best,
Cristina
Hello everyone,
I thought my recovery from lumpectomy/SNB was going well and then I developed a complication - there was 90cc of fluid stuck in my lymph node underarm area (had it aspirated out yesterday). The surgeon said it was a seroma, but I don’t agree. I think I am one few unluckys to have lymphedema; because the placement of the fluid is above and below the lymph nodes, down another 5 inches to my trunk area, and about 3 inches into my back area. Also, right after aspiration, everything swelled up again to the same size again. So it can be painful and of course I am not happy about this.
But I am trying to adjust. Last night I took a giant towel, rolled it up into a very long tube, wrapped it around my chest, and tied it into a knot. This put pressure on the swelled up areas and when I woke up, the fluid was mostly redistributed to other areas of my breast.
Will be seeing the surgeon again next week. I am going to insist that I get a second opinion on the “seroma”
Avibaby
Hi Quaggie , I think the smelly pit is quite common - think removal of the lyphnodes may disrupt drainage in some way mine did settle down eventually - you ask in the Ask the Nurses section - I’ve never actually seen a medical explanation for it .
Avibaby my seroma filled back up twice on the third occasion it just disappeared on its own almost overnight .It is very uncomfortable as it’s putting pressure on your scars .
Some surgeons don’t bother draining them as they often just fill right back up and usually it just gets absorbed back into your body naturally .I was gearing myself up to have it drained for the third time when it just disappeared .Its very uncomfortable - a great relief when they drain and it bit depressing when it fills right back up !!
Ooh sounds good although the last time I went to one of those I felt rather bloated fior a few days ,think it was the third portion of toffee banana fritters …?
Hi Avibaby and everybody else!
I am resurfacing now. I had my WLE last Thursday, Aug. 16th, on less than 48 hour notice, which was great as I didn’t have time to get anxious. It was a long day with lots of waiting and only back home at 10:45pm. Everything went smoothly and the wound is quite painless. I was actually more sore from the MRi guided biopsy the previous Saturday. They removed two lymph nodes. Now it’s the waiting game for results of margins, nodes, and further treatment. I don’t have an appointment yet for that.
Yesterday (three days after operation) I was feeling quite good already but then developed a rash on my arm (the side of the operation) and torso, so we had to go to A&E in case it was an infection. They did blood tests and concluded it was some allergic reaction of some sort, peharps to the contrast dye, but nothing alarming.
Not sure if I am misunderstanding something but i think this “waiting room” is an imaginary game… So, I would like lots of sashimi and Asian food! The post-op nurse was from Malaysia and we started chatting when I woke up and she was telling me how she liked to cook Asian food… and I’ve had a craving since then…
Happy week!
I am in the waiting room for at least another 2 weeks- waiting on MRI and nuclear bone scan results - so if the buffet and handsome waiters could continue for a while I would be grateful - oh and the gin.
They definately should and also they should come round and hoover and wash up no extra cost !!!